Whistler Imperial Pils | Karl Strauss Brewing Company

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Appearance - This poured an eerie-looking florescent orange in color with a puffy white head that showed zilch retention.

Smell - The nose is very light for the style. There are some grassy, semi-European hops and an uncharacteristic caramel malt base but really this nose is quite blah.

Taste - Yeah, I don't get this at all. The flavor is sharp, sugary malt that has more the characteristic of a red or amber ale than a pils. The hops are overran on all counts and consist of some light, leafy notes.

Mouthfeel - This is medium-bodied and again uncharacteristically bitter at the end. The middle is sweet, sugary malt.

Drinkability - I have only one good thing to say about this beer: I couldn't stop drinking it - hahaha! When I pick it apart it's hard to find one positive quality and Lord knows it has nothing to do with style but the hell with all that for some strange reason it hit the spot.

Lacing has pretty damn amazing, an art form from this beer I say! Fresh baskets of biscuits in my nose, alcohol sure ... but very clean. Smooth and a bit creamy with a slick mouth feel. Toasty toast ... graininess is clean but has a heavy footprint here. Maltiness is thick with a big and clean biscuity tone, hops ring in with some balance as does the alcohol. Clean throughout. Finishes with more malt than expected but loving it. A sippin pils, very tasty.

Pours a slightly hazy deep golden color with a white head that leaves decent lacing.

Smells of crisp and mildly sweet pilsner malts with good amounts of sticky citrus and light herbal hops.

Tastes very similar to how it smells. Smooth pilsner malts up front are joined quickly by moderate amounts of citrus and herbal hops. Midway through slightly grassy hop flavors come into play, fading out into a moderately bitter ending. Mouthfeel is good, with solid carbonation.

Overall this is a good benchmark for the style, not good and not bad and worth a shot.

fresh bottle from Texas Liquor (in Carsblad, Cal.) Very easy to drink hoppy beer. An understated bitterness that was most pleasant during a long luncheon. Mild hoppy aromas. Some citrus, medium mouthfeel, and one-quarter inch of retained head on cloudy lightly orange body. Satisfying, not heavy, sure not a double IPA and cannot be held up to that sort of hop assault.

A: Pours a perfectly clear golden, capped by a frothy two finger off-white head. Retention is moderate and it leaves some light lacing in its wake.

S: Bready base with some light funk, balanced by floral, earthy hops and some light spice notes. Lemon zest floats around in the background.

T: Very sweet up front with a bready characteristic, transitions into moderate floral bitterness with a biting earthiness. Some peppery and lemon zest notes swirl around near the finish, yielding a sweet and spicy after taste.

M: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation, feels creamy as it glides across the tongue.

D: The ABV is rather well hidden and it goes down way too easily. Not one of the best imperial pilsners I've had, but there are no major flaws and it's good to see Karl Strauss taking some risks with their bottled offerings.

Starts out sweet with a wheat cracker and grass flavor. Gets a little spicy as you drink it. One of the milder flavored Imperial Pils I have tasted. The one word that pops in to my head as I drink this is "Soft" this is like a strong beer buffered to prevent anything offensive from hitting my tongue.

Mouthfeel is good.

Overall this is just an OK beer. It;s not bad but I really don't think I will buy another bottle.

Appearance: Tried the Whistler Imperial Pils on tap at Small Bar during rollout pint night Thursday night. This just looked good. Poured a dark golden color with a 1" frothy head that dissipated rather quickly.

S: The nose is sweet, bready malts, corn, and a touch of lemon in the distance. Nothing really stands out here; it almost smells like a decent macro lager with a more pronounced bouquet.

T: Improves on the smell some, but only a bit. The first part of the sip is the sweet, lightly toasted malts, followed by a very mildly bitter hop spice. The taste has a really sweet, biscuity flavor, like biscuits and honey. And that's about it, the flavors are balanced but rather unremarkable.

D: The beer may not be memorable but it goes down easy. Again, there's nothing wrong with the flavor, I've just had a lot more interesting double pils. The 7.5% ABV is barely noticable, so some points there.

Overall, not a beer I'd pass up, it's fairly pleasant, but I'll probably forget all about it during my next brew.

Thanks to a generous individual for getting this bottle out to me. Served in a tulip.

Pours a clear light apricot color with a thin white head that quickly falls down into a few bubbles. Thin collar throughout. The nose is lightly grainy without too much depth. Some bready malt and not much in the way of hops. The flavor is bready with some light grain in the background. Hop bitterness comes through on the backend, though isn't really present in the flavor. Medium body with high carbonation and a bit of an alcohol bite in the finish. Decent enough, though not my favorite.

Imperial Pils? First time I've had this beer style.
Pours to a light orange with a white foam head. At first sip you can taste the higher hops than with other pilsners. Taste is somewhat grassy with a hoppy yet not overpowering finish. Foam dissapears quickly but the aftertaste on this beer is not that bitter and makes your pallate desire another sip. At 7.5% and with a 22 oz bottle it might still be considered a session beer that one can enjoy when looking for a beer to stick with and not have it overpower you.

A&S - Pours a gorgeous sunburst gold with a foamy off white head. Not much aroma getting through the pilsner malt, some floral notes as well as some herbal hops. Very floral like a beachside garden.

T&M - Spectacularly smooth. Goes down super easy. Nice fresh malt character with some honey and fermented alcohol, a earthy hop bitterness, with a finish as crisp as potato chips. Great yeast character in this as well, absolutely welcoming, no off notes at all.

O - An amazing beer! Liked this more than I originally thought I would. I had this in my fridge for quite a while and now wish I would have drank it sooner, as we all do with unknowingly amazing brews. Super excited to find this randomly while shopping at certain markets. Although availability here in SoCal should be a little better for this, considering I live 2 or 3 counties away, look for it at your bottle shop. Its a must for SDagans.

Nice golden amber in the glass. Drinks very smoothly with nice subtle carbonation and a solid feel in the mouth. Aroma is "different" without the common blast of hops. A flowery rather than resiny hop. Malty without particular sweetness. Overall winey character with the nicely bitter twang of a very well balanced beer.

The slightly roasted hop flavor is extremely pleasant to me. Doesn't have the hyped-up malt liquor taste of some Imperial Pilseners. Score one for Strauss on this one.

Picked up on a recent trip to San Diego. Pours a nice golden-amber color, with a fairly substantial rocky white head. Good bready/biscuity aromas, with a just a hint of hops. Solid pilsner character on the palate, creamy, with a subtle alcoholic punch near the end. Good.

Appearance: Pours a clear golden color with a respectable head; the retention wasn't great but the lacing was above average

Smell: Biscuity malt with a vaguely grassy hops

Taste: Biscuity malt, up front, with an understated grassy hop flavor developing by mid-palate; rather malty on the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: I have never been thrilled by the Imperial Pilsner style, more because I dislike the malt character of so many of them; in this case, I really like the malts but the hops aren't up to the task; still, it is easy to drink